Welcome to the October 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable number -- based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good -- and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy!Blog post with AMA questions and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/10/13/ama-october-2025/Support Mindscape on Patreon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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331 | Solo: Fine-Tuning, God, and the Multiverse
Certain features of our universe seem unnatural to us. These include "constants of nature" such as the cosmological constant and the mass of the Higgs boson, as well as features of the initial conditions like the curvature of space and the initial entropy. But they can't truly be "unnatural" -- they are literally features of Nature itself. Some have turned to the anthropic principle and the multiverse, while others look to theism for an explanation. I talk here about my views on the various attitudes one might take toward these apparent fine-tunings, and why it is important to think about them.Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/10/06/331-solo-fine-tuning-god-and-the-multiverse/Support Mindscape on Patreon.Some readings of relevance:Livio and Rees, Fine-Tuning, Complexity, and Life in the MultiverseCarroll, In What Sense Is the Early Universe Fine-Tuned?Barnes, A Reasonable Little Question: A Formulation of the Fine-Tuning ArgumentGoff, Our Improbable Existence Is No Evidence for a MultiverseNeal, Puzzles of Anthropic Reasoning Resolved Using Full Non-indexical ConditioningSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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330 | Petter Törnberg on the Dynamics of (Mis)Information
A characteristic of complex systems is that individual components combine to exhibit large-scale emergent behavior even when the components were not specifically designed for any particular purpose within the collective. Sometimes those individual components are us -- people interacting within societies or online communities. Studying the dynamics of such interactions is interesting both to better understand what is happening, and hopefully to designing better communities. I talk with Petter Törnberg about flows of information, how polarization develops, and how artificial agents can help steer things in better directions.Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/09/29/330-petter-tornberg-on-the-dynamics-of-misinformation/Support Mindscape on Patreon.Petter Törnberg received a Ph.D. in complex systems from Chalmers University of Technology. He is now an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Language, Logic and Computation at the University of Amsterdam, Associate Professor in Complex Systems at Chalmers University of Technology, NWO VENI laurate, and senior researcher at the University of Neuchâtel.Web siteUniv. Amsterdam web pageGoogle Scholar publicationsAmazon author pageBlueskySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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329 | Steven Pinker on Rationality and Common Knowledge
Getting along in society requires that we mostly adhere to certainly shared norms and customs. Often it's not enough that we all know what the rules are, but also that everyone else knows the rules, and that they know that we know the rules, and so on. Philosophers and game theorists refer to this as common knowledge. In Steven Pinker's new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows..., he explores how common knowledge (or its absence) explains money, power, and a wide variety of subtextual human interactions.Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/09/22/329-steven-pinker-on-rationality-and-common-knowledge/Support Mindscape on Patreon.Steven Pinker received his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University. He is currently the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is the author of several best-selling books and recipient of several honorary doctoral degrees. Among his awards are Humanist of the Year (two different organizations) and the William James Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Psychological Science.Web siteHarvard web pageGoogle Scholar publicationsAmazon author pageWikipediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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328 | Mary Roach on Replacing Parts of Our Bodies
Like any machine, bodies occasionally break down, and it's natural to go in search of a replacement part. Ancient societies featured simple prosthetics for teeth, noses, and limbs, while modern medicine pursues more advanced ways of replacing internal organs and microbiomes. But what is striking is not just the impressive ingenuity of our attempts to replicate human anatomy, but the surprising level of difficulty involved in doing it well. I talk with author Mary Roach about the many ways in which humans have chosen to replace bits of themselves, as told in her recent book Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy.Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/09/15/328-mary-roach-on-replacing-parts-of-our-bodies/Support Mindscape on Patreon.Mary Roach received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Wesleyan University. Her books include multiple New York Times bestsellers and have appeared on numerous best-of lists. She was a guest editor in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series, and received the Rushdie Award from the Harvard Secular Society.Web siteWikipediaBlueskyGoodreads profileAmazon author pageSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
About Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
Ever wanted to know how music affects your brain, what quantum mechanics really is, or how black holes work? Do you wonder why you get emotional each time you see a certain movie, or how on earth video games are designed? Then you’ve come to the right place. Each week, Sean Carroll will host conversations with some of the most interesting thinkers in the world. From neuroscientists and engineers to authors and television producers, Sean and his guests talk about the biggest ideas in science, philosophy, culture and much more.
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